Full Opinion

Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 451 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION IV No. CR-25-430 JORDAN LYNN LEWIS Opinion Delivered September 30, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE SALINE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 63CR-22-730] STATE OF ARKANSAS HONORABLE JOSH FARMER, JUDGE APPELLEE AFFIRMED; MOTION TO WITHDRAW GRANTED CINDY GRACE THYER, Judge Appellant Jordan Lewis appeals the Saline County Circuit Court’s order revoking his probation and sentencing him to thirty-six months in the Arkansas Division of Correction (ADC). Lewis’s counsel filed a motion to withdraw and a no-merit brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 4-3(b)(1), asserting that there is no merit to any appeal. Lewis was provided a copy of counsel’s motion and brief and informed of his right to file pro se points; however, he did not avail himself of that opportunity. We previously ordered rebriefing in this case because of briefing deficiencies. Lewis v. State, 2026 Ark. App. 332. Those deficiencies have been corrected, and we now affirm and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw. Lewis was charged in September 2022 with one count of second-degree battery and one count of fleeing. An amended information was filed in November 2022 to add a count of failure to appear. Lewis subsequently agreed to plead guilty to these three counts, and the circuit court entered a sentencing order on June 20, 2023, reflecting Lewis’s guilty plea and a sentence of sixty months’ probation, sixty days in county jail, a fine of $800, costs of $150, and a $150 public-defender fee. The conditions of Lewis's probation required him, as relevant here, to report as directed to his probation officer and to pay fines and court costs totaling $1,140 at the rate of $51 a month. The State filed a petition to revoke Lewis’s probation on November 26, 2024. The petition alleged that Lewis failed to report as directed on multiple dates. The petition further asserted that as of November 8, 2024, Lewis’s last payment on his fines and court costs was on September 10, 2024, and that he owed $950 in fines and costs as well as $385 in supervision fees. The circuit court held a hearing on the State’s petition on January 13, 2025. Lewis acknowledged the veracity of the allegations in the petition, and the circuit court set off sentencing for ninety days, telling Lewis, “If you will do whatever you need to do to be in compliance with your probation, when you come back, that will be a good day. . . . If you do not do everything you’re supposed to do to stay in compliance with your probation, that will not be a good day.” On April 16, 2025, Lewis returned to court for sentencing. The State first called Rachel Welch, an agent for the Arkansas Division of Community Correction. Welch was asked to characterize Lewis’s compliance since the January 13 hearing, and Welch said that he tested positive for and admitted using marijuana at his appointment on January 27. He 2 tested negative for drugs at his next visit on February 20, but on February 26, he had received a traffic citation. On March 12, he tested positive for cocaine but denied using; however, a subsequent test confirmed the earlier one. Lewis failed to report on March 18 and March 31, and he was late coming in the first three days of April. Welch added that Lewis had been given the option of performing community service in lieu of paying his supervision fees, but he had completed only five of the thirty-eight hours necessary to satisfy those fees. She said that he still owed $1140 in court costs and fines and had made no payments on those. After the State rested, Lewis testified on his own behalf. He explained that he lived in Little Rock and it was difficult to get to court in Saline County. He said that when he was unable to get a ride to meet his probation officer, he would call or text her to tell her he did not have transportation. Lewis said he used to work at Popeye’s but used his earnings from there to help his mother pay rent, so he did not have the cash to pay his fines. He asserted that he had been doing more community service after April 2, such as washing officers’ vehicles and cleaning the probation officers’ offices. On cross-examination, Lewis acknowledged that despite being given ninety days to come into compliance with his probation, he was still short on his community-service hours. At the conclusion of the hearing, the State asked the circuit court to impose a sentence of at least three years in the ADC. Lewis argued that he had done “some positive things on probation” and asked that the court “give him a chance to stay on probation and just a sanction instead of imposing the Department of Correction.” The circuit court, noting that it had given Lewis a chance at remaining on probation, found that he had not “do[ne] 3 everything [he was] supposed to do” and sentenced him to three years in the ADC, after which his “probation [would] be discharged and he [would] be committed as to all outstanding fines and costs.” The sentencing order was entered on April 16, 2025, and Lewis filed a timely notice of appeal on April 25. Appellate counsel has now filed a motion to withdraw and a no-merit brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 4-3(b)(1), asserting that there is no merit to any appeal. A request to withdraw on the ground that the appeal is wholly without merit shall be accompanied by a brief. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-3(b)(1). The brief shall contain an argument section that consists of a list of all rulings adverse to the defendant made by the circuit court on all objections, motions, and requests made by either party with an explanation as to why each adverse ruling is not a meritorious ground for reversal. Id. The brief’s statement of the case and the facts shall contain, in addition to the other material parts of the record, all rulings adverse to the defendant made by the circuit court and the page number where each adverse ruling is located in the appellate record. Id.; Hodnett v. State, 2023 Ark. App. 336, 669 S.W.3d 885. In this no-merit brief, counsel adequately addresses whether there was sufficient evidence for the court to revoke Lewis’s probation, noting that Lewis admitted he had violated the terms and conditions of his probation. See Taylor v. State, 2018 Ark. App. 30, 540 S.W.3d 295 (defendant’s admission that he failed to report to his probation officer was sufficient evidence of his violation of the terms and conditions of his probation). 4 In addition, counsel addresses the circuit court’s denial of Lewis’s request for a lesser sentence. Counsel appropriately notes that in a revocation proceeding, the circuit court has discretion in the sentence imposed and is authorized to impose any sentence that could have been imposed originally. Richmond v. State, 2025 Ark. App. 408. Here, Lewis was sentenced to three years in the ADC, which is the minimum sentence for a Class C felony offense such as failure to appear. See Ark. Code Ann. § 5-4-401(a)(5) (Repl. 2024) (“For a Class C felony, the sentence shall be not less than three (3) years nor more than ten (10) years[.]”). Counsel further notes that the circuit court gave Lewis three months to bring himself into compliance with the terms of his probation and that Lewis failed to do so. Thus, he correctly posits that no meritorious argument could be made that the circuit court abused its discretion in not imposing a lesser sentence. We therefore affirm the revocation of Lewis’s probation and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw. Affirmed; motion to withdraw granted. GLADWIN and MURPHY, JJ., agree. Noble Law Firm, PLLC, by: Ethan C. Nobles, for appellant. One brief only. 5